India tells Pak to end its illegal occupation of J-K

NEW YORK: Stating that Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter of India, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has asked Pakistan to end its illegal occupation of some parts of the state before advising New Delhi.

"Kashmir is an internal matter of India," said Krishna, who is here on a 10-day visit to attend the annual UN General Assembly meeting.

Pointing out that Pakistan is in "illegal occupation of some parts of Jammu and Kashmir", Krishna said, "it is desirable that they vacate that and then start advising India as to how to go about doing things in Kashmir."

"We have taken certain actions in terms of assisting what needs to be done in Kashmir... An all party delegation has just gone back to Delhi and they have had wide ranging discussions across the board from all shades of opinion.

"So, Government of India is fully conscious of its responsibilities... institutional mechanism and individual mechanism will be put in place so that the genuine grievances of Kashmir and the people of Kashmir will be addressed squarely and directly," the External Affairs Minister told a news channel.